Kent storms ahead in this week’s release
2-3 minute read
By Jessie Ohara | December 3, 2021
Millions of Kent records have been added to Findmypast.
With over 4.6 million new records in this week's release, local history is at the forefront of this Findmypast Friday.
Kent electoral registers, 1570-1907
This brand-new record collection spans an incredible 337 years, documenting both parliamentary and local voters' lists. It contains the name, address, nature of the qualification to vote, and period during which each individual is entitled to vote. Whether you're interested in the history of your house in Kent, or trying to locate an ancestor in any of Kent's constituencies, these records can help you surpass that dreaded brick wall.
Kent Burials
The new additions to this expansive Kent Burials collection may be more focused, but they are not lacking in their abundance of local history. Specifically highlighting burials that took place in Watling Street Cemetery, they refer not only to grave references and burial dates, but also to the consecration of particular gravesites, allowing you to discover more about the person beyond the grave.
The entrance to the cemetery in 1906 (courtesy of the Bob Appleton collection).
Watling Street Cemetery is an extension of the formerly-known Brent Cemetery, now the East Hill Cemetery. It was taken from the Dartford Board Burials and transferred to the Dartford Urban District Council in 1895, which is why many sources will note that it was not a functional burial ground until 1900. The Council then extended the cemetery further, burying citizens in both the East Hill Cemetery and its Watling Street extension until 1997. Amongst its 16,000 burials is James Smith VC, who was awarded the Victoria Cross whilst serving with the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) during the Mohmand campaign in India September 1897.
More local history in our archives
If you're looking for more unique Kent history, we have much more than just births and burials; try this collection, for example, which details all staff, patients, and contractors that had ties to the Bexley Asylum.
A ward in the Bexley Asylum, year unknown, sourced by Wellcome Images.
This psychiatric hospital was open all the way until 2001, and interestingly was designed to be self-sufficient. Built quite the distance from the community, it had a patient-monitored farm until 1961 that reared cattle, pigs and chickens, as well as running a market farm for vegetables.
Newspapers
This release sees a week of tens, with ten brand new titles and ten updated papers. This makes for an extraordinary 114,064 new pages, from the aptly-named agricultural paper Leek Times to local news segment The South London Journal.
New titles:
- Folkestone Chronicle, 1855-1857, 1859-1869, 1871-1872, 1875-1877, 1879, 1886-1892, 1897
- Hinckley News, 1861-1871, 1874-1875, 1877, 1879-1887, 1889-1892
- Hucknall Morning Star and Advertiser, 1889-1896, 1898-1913
- Leek Times, 1877, 1879, 1888-1889, 1894, 1913-1922
- South Gloucestershire Gazette, 1913-1914, 1919-1935
- South London Journal, 1856-1868, 1877, 1889, 1893
- Sutton Coldfield and Erdington Mercury, 1887-1895, 1898-1904
- Sydenham Times, 1862-1870, 1873-1883
- Tees-side Weekly Herald, 1904-1918
- West Ham and South Essex Mail, 1888-1900, 1916-1941
Updated titles:
- Birmingham Mail, 1889, 1902, 1907, 1910
- East Kent Times and Mail, 1872, 1944
- Essex Times, 1866, 1908
- Fenland Citizen, 1975
- Hull Daily News, 1874
- Liverpool Daily Post, 1892
- New Milton Advertiser, 1994
- Newark Advertiser, 1859-1878, 1896-1898, 1900, 1902, 1904-1909, 1911, 1913-1918, 1958-1968
- Saffron Walden Weekly News, 1998
- Westerham Herald, 1892
If you have an incredible story of any of your Kent ancestors, share it with us on social - you can find us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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